‘The Comic’ (1969)

This movie used to be in heavy Saturday afternoon rotation — along with, ironically, compilations of old movies by the real life versions of “Billy Bright” – but I haven’t seen it cropping up on TV for a long time.

It’s jarring to see Dick van Dyke playing such a creep.

For an even more depressing (non-Hollywood) take on the same general theme, look for Laurence Olivier’s The Entertainer (1957)